A telescopic handler or telehandler is a machine that is popular within the agriculture and construction businesses. These machines are similar in appearance and function to a forklift or a lift truck but are actually more similar to a crane rather than a forklift. The telehandler provides increased versatility of a single telescopic boom which can extend forwards and upwards from the vehicle. The operator can attach a lot of attachments on the boom's end. Several of the most popular attachments consist of: a muck grab, a bucket, a lift table or pallet forks.
A telehandler normally uses pallet forks as their most common attachment in order to move loads through areas which are normally not reachable for a typical forklift. For example, telehandlers are able to transport cargo to and from locations which are not typically accessible by standard forklift models. These devices could also remove palletized cargo from within a trailer and position these loads in high areas, such as on rooftops for example. Before, this aforementioned situation would require a crane. Cranes can be really expensive to use and not always a time-efficient or practical alternative.
One more advantage is also the telehandlers biggest drawback: as the boom extends or raises when the equipment is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become somewhat unstable, despite the counterweights on the rear. This translates to the lifting capacity decreasing fast as the working radius increases. The working radius is the distance between the front of the wheels and the center of the load.
For instance, a vehicle which has a 5000 pound capacity with the boom retracted may be able to safely raise just as heavy as 400 pounds when it is fully extended with a low boom angle. The same unit with a 5000 lb. lift capacity which has the boom retracted might be able to easily support as much as 10,000 lb. with the boom raised up to 70.
The Matbro Company in Horley, Surrey, England originally pioneered telehandlers. These machines were developed from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. Initially, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front section. This placed the cab of the driver on the back portion of the machine, like in the Teleram 40 model. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab located on the side has since become more popular.